Situ He froze for a moment. In the end, he forced down his anger and put on a fake smile. “It’s not like I’d lose to a Beta, right?”
“Situ He.” Lu Sili’s face went cold. When he raised his eyes, his gaze was like drifting snow, so sharp that people often found it hard to believe it came from an Omega.
Lu Sili said coldly, “There may be no media at the gala, but there are plenty of people and plenty of loose mouths. If a remark with this kind of second-sex discrimination gets out, I doubt it’ll help your career.”
That was already a threat. Su Yuan looked at Lu Sili, slightly worried that speaking this way to someone in the industry might make him an enemy.
Unexpectedly, Situ He laughed twice, sounding perfectly good-humored, as though he did not mind Lu Sili’s threat. Then he glanced at Su Yuan and said, “How do you even keep him under control?”
Plenty of people wanted to speak with Lu Sili and Situ He. Just then someone came over to clink glasses with Lu Sili, and Situ He said a quick goodbye and left.
Lu Sili put on his standard polite smile and spoke with the newcomer.
“Yes, he’s my husband.”
“His name is Su Yuan. He’s a doctor. Yes, Municipal Hospital.”
“Thank you. We’re too busy right now, so we’ll talk about the wedding later.”
“Of course. When you hold your banquet, we’ll definitely attend together.”
Su Yuan stood beside Lu Sili and watched him handle every person and situation in the room with effortless composure, while Su Yuan himself simply maintained his manners and served as a foil beside him.
He would be happy to be a watch, a tie, or even a drop of water sliding from a champagne glass onto Lu Sili’s hand.
I never once thought about controlling anyone. Is loving someone supposed to mean controlling them? Noble but arrogant Alpha, you and I aren’t even on the same level.
The smile at Su Yuan’s lips was gentle, but his heart was clear and sharp as a diamond.
That night, Lu Sili must have repeated the sentence “Yes, this is my husband. His name is Su Yuan” at least a hundred times. Given his position, everyone was polite enough to play along.
And Su Yuan performed well too. His mood remained steady and his conversation was poised.
In the entertainment industry, being educated really was important.
A Beta husband who was neither servile nor overbearing. Not bad at all.
Lu Sili’s alcohol tolerance was above average, but his health had been poor lately, and by the second half of the evening he was already struggling. He was not drunk. The alcohol moving through his bloodstream simply made his heart race and weakened his fingers.
“Let me take over, okay?” Su Yuan suddenly leaned close to his ear.
Lu Sili turned toward him. “How well can you drink?”
Su Yuan pursed his lips slightly, nodded with confidence, and said, “Pretty well.”
Having a husband drink in his place was even more natural than having an assistant do it and would not offend anyone.
“Sister Jiang, long time no see.” Spotting a familiar face, Lu Sili took the initiative to approach. It was the first time that night he had gone looking for someone to talk to.
Su Yuan immediately followed.
The woman Lu Sili called Sister Jiang was Jiang Que, a director Su Yuan recognized and whose work he had seen, most of it arthouse films.
She had plenty of trophies to her name too.
Jiang Que was in her forties, short and lean, dressed casually in a loose cotton shirt and jeans. Standing among all the celebrities, she somehow looked almost detached from the glamour.
When she saw Lu Sili approaching, she finished greeting the person beside her and walked over to him.
No one at the gala could possibly have missed the fact that Lu Sili had brought his husband. Jiang Que looked Su Yuan over and smiled. “You must be Director Lu’s husband.”
Su Yuan smiled faintly and shook her hand. “Director Jiang. You can just call me Xiao Su.”
Jiang Que said, “Such a fine-looking man. Just follow Director Lu and call me Sister Jiang. I heard you’re a doctor. You really do have that gentle, scholarly air.”
Su Yuan said, “Unfortunately, I work in orthopedics.”
Jiang Que blinked. “Hm?”
Su Yuan smiled and mimed swinging a large hammer with both hands. “Every day in the operating room, it’s just bang, bang, bang with a big hammer. Nothing scholarly about that.”
“Hahahahaha.” Jiang Que burst out laughing.
Lu Sili laughed too. Ever since he had turned into a workaholic, the artistic side of him had faded, and sometimes he struggled to find the right wavelength when talking to literary people like Jiang Que. Watching Su Yuan handle her with such ease, he unexpectedly felt a little more relaxed.
As the conversation warmed, Jiang Que brought up a young-filmmaker development program she and several other directors were preparing. Lately, she had been meeting different young filmmakers.
“I’ve met Ru Que twice. Do you know her, Director Lu?” Jiang Que asked.
F&A was already one of the world’s leading production companies, with many famous directors under its banner, and the films Lu Sili handled for import were mostly major productions. He knew almost nothing about these new directors.
Lu Sili was about to say he had not yet had the chance to meet her when Su Yuan spoke softly. “The director of Toward the Lake?”
Jiang Que said, “Yes.”
Su Yuan said, “When Toward the Lake was at the film festival, Lu Sili was busy, so neither of us saw it. We only watched it together at home after it went onto streaming last month.”
Lu Sili smiled along and said, “Yes. Work was too busy.”
They chatted happily and drank quite a bit. Lu Sili was surprised to see Su Yuan’s expression remain unchanged. He had not expected Su Yuan to hold his liquor so well.
Even more surprising was that Su Yuan, who looked as though his only interests were cooking and mopping floors, knew so much about trends in the film industry and obscure industry information.
At ten-thirty, Lu Sili finally managed to extricate himself. After finishing his last instructions, he left with Su Yuan.
The car was waiting outside. Su Yuan was still holding both of their coats, and because a company driver was driving tonight, Lu Sili sat with him in the back seat.
The fruity scent of champagne and alcohol lingered in the car. Lu Sili was pleasantly tipsy and genuinely grateful that Su Yuan had come tonight. When he turned toward him, he found Su Yuan hugging the coats and carefully regulating his breathing.
“Drunk?” Lu Sili asked.
Su Yuan turned and smiled without saying whether he was drunk or not.
Lu Sili leaned against the seat. From this angle, he suddenly realized how attractive Su Yuan’s profile was: understated yet sharply structured bones, a straight, lifted nose, thick lashes usually hidden behind his lenses, and the sharp lip line Parker liked so much.
“Only tonight did I realize you’re not some harmless little white rabbit after all.” Lu Sili’s voice was light and amused.
Su Yuan turned his face slightly toward him. “I never said I was.”
Lu Sili said, “Then what are you? A big bad wolf?”
Su Yuan smiled, one corner of his mouth lifting. “I’m a Beta.”
Lu Sili laughed.
The intense socializing had exhausted both of them. Neither spoke again on the way home. They closed their eyes to rest, and half an hour later the car reached the house.
“Su Yuan? Su Yuan?” Lu Sili lightly patted his arm.
“Mm…”
Su Yuan was already so drunk his entire body had gone soft.
Lu Sili: “…”
And here he had thought the man could really hold his liquor. Apparently he had simply been forcing himself through it.
Fortunately, they had a driver tonight, so Lu Sili and the driver helped Su Yuan through the front door together.
Lu Sili had never been inside Su Yuan’s room. He certainly had not expected his first visit to be with the company driver beside him.
The driver did not dare let his eyes wander. After helping lay Su Yuan on the bed, he left immediately.
There was a faint fragrance in the room. Lu Sili relaxed at once and found the scent very pleasant.
Moving a man taller and bigger than himself had already exhausted Lu Sili. A fine layer of sweat covered his back.
With one hand, Lu Sili loosened his tie, then took off his coat. There was no coat rack in the room, so he turned and draped it over the chair in front of the desk.
The desk stood near the balcony and was covered in books. Lu Sili glanced over and was immediately drawn to the desk lamp. It had a retro semicircular shade painted with numerous botanical motifs, a vintage design with a great deal of texture.
It looked strangely familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen it.
After looking at the lamp, he was about to turn away when he noticed a framed photograph on the desk. It was actually a class photo.
What kind of person put a group photo with dozens of people on his desk and looked at it every day?
Lu Sili leaned closer.
Yingnan No. 3 High School, Class 2, Senior Year Graduation Commemorative Photo.
Lu Sili smiled and bent down to look for himself. He quickly found his high-school self in the third row near the center.
What a bright smile. Even my hair looks sunny and unruly. And that idiot Li Ya, what possessed him to shave his head into that awful buzz cut? He looks hideous.
Where’s Su Yuan?
Lu Sili searched row by row from top to bottom.
“Su… Yuan…” he murmured, scanning the photo once without finding him.
Yingnan No. 3 High School was the best public high school in Licheng. It was known not only for strong teaching but also for a comparatively egalitarian educational philosophy, and among Licheng’s top three schools, it was the only one where Alpha, Beta, and Omega students attended classes together.
At any given time, Betas were the largest group, so every class still contained more Betas than anyone else.
And in the gray blur of student life, there had been far too many bespectacled Beta boys like Su Yuan.
At last, Lu Sili found someone who might be Su Yuan, third from the right in the second-to-last row. The photo was not very clear. The boy’s head tilted slightly toward the center, but glare on his glasses made it impossible to tell where he was looking.
The photo had been taken one week before the exams. Lu Sili remembered that he had been running fevers constantly during that period. At the hospital, the doctor had said his gland hormones were unusually active, a sign that differentiation was approaching.
Lu Sili had been excited. Most of his friends had already differentiated, especially his childhood friend Li Ya, who differentiated during the summer after their first year of high school. Once Li Ya became an Alpha, both his build and physical abilities developed rapidly.
Lu Sili had spent all that time waiting for the day he would differentiate into an Alpha.
He made it steadily through the college entrance examinations. Then, exactly as he had anticipated, the storm arrived. Lu Sili differentiated into an Omega.
After that, he seemed to stop attending gatherings with his old classmates.
It was not because he feared they would look at him differently. He had simply been in such a terrible state back then that he could not meet old friends, laugh with them, and reminisce as though nothing had happened.
Lu Sili pulled himself out of the memory. After a brief silence, he turned and took off Su Yuan’s shoes.
“Mm…” Su Yuan made a small sound and opened his eyes, discovering Lu Sili beside the bed.
Lu Sili asked, “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
Su Yuan shook his head. His drunken gaze was dazed, gentle light floating in his eyes.
His voice was slightly hoarse. “Are you hungry? I’ll make you something to eat.”